The most crucial lives on the earth have to animals because they can't talk with humans. They can't tell their ideas or they can't tell about their cruel life for us.. I try to hear their voice...
Seven different species of sea (or marine) turtles grace our ocean waters, from the shallow seagrass beds of the Indian Ocean, to the colorful reefs of the Coral Triangle and the sandy beaches of the Eastern Pacific. While these highly migratory species periodically come ashore to either bask or nest, sea turtles spend the bulk of their lives in the ocean.
Over the last 200 years, human activities have tipped the scales against the survival of these ancient mariners. Slaughtered for their eggs, meat, skin, and shells, sea turtles suffer from poaching and over-exploitation. They also face habitat destruction and accidental capture—known as bycatch—in fishing gear. Climate change has an impact on turtle nesting sites; it alters sand temperatures, which then affects the sex of hatchlings. Nearly all species of sea turtle are now classified as endangered, with three of the seven existing species being critically endangered. Turtles are rarely seen because the sea is their habitat and only the females come ashore and that too only after dark. The land turtles and land tortoises are also seen in frequently. Today there are 250 species of turtles on earth. Seven of these live in the ocean and are called sea turtles. The remaining 243 species live on land or in freshwater ponds and marshes. The terrestrial turtles, those that live solely on land, are called tortoises.
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Five of the seven species of sea turtles in the world visit the shores of Sri Lanka to breed. They are the Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas), Hawksbill Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), Olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea), Loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea). The sea turtles are called Kesbawa in Sinhala and Amai in Tamil.
The eggs take around 50 days to hatch and the hatchlings, as soon as they are born, make their way to the sea. Crows, seagulls and other seabirds eat some of the hatchlings, which are black, as they make their way on the white sand.
Here again stray dogs and monitor lizards eat some hatchlings as they move across the beach. The large fish that lurk in the shallows of the sea also eat some of the young ones that just make it to the water. Only a few of the hatchlings that come out of each nest survive to become mature adults.
The main breeding season is from September to mid-April on the West coast of the island and from February to June on the East coast. During these periods there are no monsoon rains to dampen the eggs and also the beaches are very broad and sandy.
It is at these times that both males and females gather off Srilankan coastal waters in fairly large numbers to breed. Migrant fishermen also operate off these coasts at the same times and unless vigilance is exercised tend to catch excessive numbers of these reptiles for commercial purposes.
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